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e you ever going to solve the problem if you don't look at all of the pieces? >>tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. >>you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. >>sharp tongue, quick whit and

above all, politically direct. >>you just think there is no low they won't go to. oh, no. if al gore's watching today... [ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> bill: it is 26 minutes after the hour. sister simone campbell of nuns on the bus will be in studio with us in the next segment. and this saturday evening you've got nothing better to do, join me on firedoglake.com they

have a book salon every saturday evening 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. east coast time and i'll be there all two hours answering questions and talking about my new book, "the obama hate machine." told you about that, all about the koch brothers. you can find out more about it at our web site, bill billpressshow.com or at fdlbook salon.com. gary ruffner is with us from the utility workers union of north america. we're talking about problems with the grid and utilities today. and what's behind, not being able to get all americans back with power. learned a lot about that. gary, if people -- you know, no matter where they are in this country, they see problems like this, caused by the deregulation of these utilities right and laid off so many people and now they're focusing more on the profits to the top right than serving the customers, what can

people do about it? >> they can -- >> bill: raise hell about it. >> call their public utility commission and complain about it. the thing that a lot of people don't know though is some of the commission calls go directly to the utility. but before the commission even hears any of those complaints. so they should be contacting congress. i love reverend al sharpton. what he talks about in the past. what was acceptable in the past is no longer acceptable because we don't accept it. and that's what we have to do is not accept what they're telling us. not accept poor service. not accept unreliable service and service that is not safe. when those power lines come down they jeopardize everybody in public. >> bill: that's gotta be it. gary ruffner uwua.org.

to find out more. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." truth seekers. >>every night we will drill down on the day's top stories in search of facts that inform. >>we are the rule breakers. >>be afraid, be very afraid. >>the investigators. >>our system is fundamentally broken. in a time that we're supposed to be worried to death about defecits, they're considering lowering corporate taxes. (vo) we are independent. >>a new scientific study shows conservatives hold science in contempt. that's a shocker. >>we are fearless. >> you who are pragmatic, you who are progressive, you who are impatient, uncle sam needs you. >>we push, we prod. >> my job is to keep it real.

the good and the bad. (vo) and we don't do talking points. >>we will have a continuous conversation. >>the young turks with cenk uygur at 7. >>i can see both side of

>> announcer: this is the "full court press," the "bill press show" live on your radio and on current tv. >> bill: 33 minutes after the hour. millions and millions and millions following us on twitter. you can, too. at bpshow. our handle, right peter? >> yes sir. >> bill: at bp show. welcome back everybody. one of the most exciting events of the summer and one of the events that's gotten the most media attention was recent -- just ended last monday, tour of

the nuns on the bus. yes, they are back led by sister simone campbell who's in studio with us again this hour. she was here just before taking off on the bus tour and she wrapped up on monday and back in studio to tell us all about it. head of the network and a sister of social justice -- social serve, sorry. >> and justice too. >> bill: nice to see you. >> great to see you bill. >> bill: congratulations. you have a lot of news out there. a lot of attention. what kind of response -- so you went to nine states, right? >> yep. >> bill: some 31 different -- >> we think 31 different communities. we had stops in. all along the way we met people who were so hungry for an alternative message. it was -- i'm not exactly sure what we touched in this nation but it was a hunger for another way forward. and it was a joy to be a part of this but it was also heartbreak

because so many stories of people struggling, people left out. people unseen and yet the joy of being community together was quite a wonderful event. >> bill: what struck you the most about the people you talked to? >> what struck me the most? their responsibility, their struggle their engagement. their trying to support family and how so easily, they get dismissed in political sound bytes. they get unseen. for instance, in milwaukee we met billy who touched my heart deeply. he and his wife had decided to move from chicago to milwaukee to take care of their kids better, to get the kids out of some of the inner city stuff. he had a job. his job transferred him. once he got there the job cut back. so they only had enough money to either put a roof over their head or food on the table. and he was working hard and trying to work additional jobs. so what they decided to do was they decided the roof was more

important. so their kids could stay in the same school. every night they went to st. benedict's dining room for dinner in order to live as a family. it brought home to me how these programs that we think of as some charity some generosity on those of us that are able to eat and have a roof every night that this is about really caring for our nation and the fact that wages have stayed flat. and the fact that businesses benefit from these very programs that serve their employees. because billy can't eat, if he can't feed his family, he can't work. you can't work hungry. i realized a whole new interdependence in our society. billy, i'll always carry with me. >> bill: your focus when you went out there as we talked before you left was to let people know the very painful impacts of the house republican budget by paul ryan. if it passed in terms of

programs designed to help the poor. >> exactly. >> bill: did you find that people know about what's coming or know about what they're doing and what kind of response did you get? >> we found over and over people didn't have a clue about what was coming. they hear the sound bytes, this is good for our nation. we need to do do it for our nation. people are worried about our nation as we all are. they have no idea of the way it is being structured in the house republican budget. paul ryan is really misguided in saying that money -- more money should go to the wealthy because they make jobs. we haven't seen the jobs and we haven't seen salary increases. so that's the wrong place to put money. where money is needed is those folks struggling so hard at the margins where there's pent up demand. that's free market theory. let's put money where people need it. and that's in salaries, that's in keeping these important programs. people don't have a clue that's coming down the road. they don't know that. >> bill: yeah and yet in the

budget, every one of those programs that they made -- they are depending on or may come to depend on will be disastrously cut. >> exactly. under the guise of taking care of the budget which it doesn't do. what people really don't know is much of the work of catholic sisters and the social service agencies is a public partner -- private public partnership. they take contracts and then they leverage it to get matching grants from the public sector. they get individual donations. as i say we squeeze every nickel every penny to get maximum worth out of it. we have responsible programs but these responsible programs are going to be devastated. and over and over, we were up in philly and we saw this fantastic community center. they took an old warehouse loading docks and made a place of beauty. it is exquisite. the service they provide everything from a head start program all the way up to senior

respite care for seniors with alzheimer's and where they do cognitive stimulation as well as just try -- socialized stuff. all of those programs will be devastated if this ryan budget goes through. >> bill: what happens now? you've been on the road. you spread the message. you got a great response. you can't drop it there. >> oh, no. it is abundantly clear that we have to keep going. that the momentum is there. there is a hunger there. now i have to tell you, i have to take many naps this weekend done and my laundry. i haven't done my laundry yet. but then what we're going to do is do a brief evaluation and then next steps next steps we see so far is doing a magazine of connection which is going to be all about the bus trip. we also want to do a briefing on capitol hill where we can tell these stories. we know there's enough data on capitol hill. what we need to do is to break people's hearts with the stories of the folks we met. because unless you have a broken heart, unless you have a broken

heart for the sake of our nation, change isn't going to happen. we have to break out of the walnut of the sound bytes. it is really hard shelled sound bytes and let the nation flourish. >> bill: so you were visiting a lot of facilities where nuns -- your fellow sisters -- >> we usually call ourselves sisters. >> bill: are doing such great work around the country. >> absolutely. >> bill: did any of the boys come along? boys i mean priests or bishops? >> oh, we had -- >> bill: to support you? >> yes yes, we started out the first day in des moines accidentally because the sisters heard we were flying to des moines because we had to go there to get to ames. i didn't know. that the sisters said you can't just sneak into town. we have to have a prayer blessing. they organized this big event and we did it at holy trinity church in des moines. father mike, the pastor welcomed us. not only did he welcome us but made the big signs and got the parishioners to meet us at the airport.

there was a lovely welcome. i got the opportunity to meet bishop tates who cosigned the letter with bishop blair from stockton saying that the ryan budget was an immoral document and calling for a responsible document. so i got to meet him and thank him for his leadership. there were several bishops on the way wished they could be there or expressed interest and concern. the fact is we planned this thing so fast and came up so fast that i totally understood that their schedules made it difficult. but we did have priests every place and the biggest priests reception was in pittsburgh. they made a concerted effort to turn out and welcome us. it was awesome. >> bill: so you didn't hear from the vatican saying why aren't you in washington talking about same-sex marriage? >> no. i've never heard from the vatican. i'm way way down on the list of folks to go after i guess except we did get mentioned by them. i think -- >> bill: some of your sisters

have mentioned by the vatican. there is an investigation underway. we talked about. while you were on the bus i think, there is a new head of the investigation. >> right right. >> bill: i don't follow vatican politics but there is a new guy in charge. some at the vatican think you girls, the sisters are just stirring things up and up to no good and not talking about what you're supposed to be talking about which is same sex and abortion, damn it. >> pardon the language, of course. >> bill: good grief. >> you have a nun in studio with us you can't say that. >> bill: never heard it before. >> i'm shocked. the thing is that we can't be silent in the face of the gospel. every morning we prayed together as sisters on the bus and it was probably one of the most important parts of nourishment for us. because to be open to gospel and over and over we found jesus

among the people that we met. you have to stand where people are. jesus said blessed are the poor. that's where we stood. it is going to make people uncomfortable. i think i said this before that historically sisters have always made bishops uncomfortable. candidly, bishops have always made sisters uncomfortable. it is our role. part of our mission to make each other uncomfortable. that's where the edge of conversion is. jesus calls us to conversion. >> bill: what is the great phrase about our mission is not to -- >> yeah. it is not to be -- there are a couple of those. one is mother teresa said that our bishop -- our mission is not to be successful but it is to be faithful. then the other one is we're supposed to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. >> bill: right. >> my favorite part. >> bill: nobody does it better than the sister simone campbell. she'll take your calls.

1-866-55-press. it is a whole new level of activity and focus and energy on the part of sisters in america. i love it. and we'll continue with sister simone campbell on the "full court press" thursday morning. >> announcer: on your radio on tv the "bill press show," new on current tv. i.q. will go way up. how are you ever going to solve the problem if you don't look at all of the pieces? >>tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. >>you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. >>sharp tongue, quick whit and above all, politically direct. >>you just think there is no low they won't go to. oh, no. if al gore's watching today...

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if you missed joy behar one week only... >>hey, time flies when you're having fun. >>don't worry because she'll be back. >>where are the lefties besides on current tv? >>joy behar is getting her own show coming to current tv this fall. >> announcer: this is the "full court press." >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> bill: hey how about it. 13 minutes now before the top of

the hour. neil king from the "wall street journal" as a "friend of bill" in the next hour. we'll be joined by congressman tim ryan from ohio. speaking of ohio, she's just back from ohio. sister simone campbell in studio with us. nuns on the bus. the nuns of the bus trip was so obama said hmm, i think i might try that myself. he takes off on his own little bus tour today. by the way, through parts of ohio. and he might even be going -- you were in youngstown, ohio. >> yes, we were. which is congressman tim ryan's district. we had this amazing reception the sisters went together to welcome us to this amazing shelter that they have created. but the best part was ursula sisters have been on retreat.

they do an eight-day retreat. they had reflected on the house budget the day before in light of scripture. they had done this whole reflection then in the evening they did a response to that. they all made signs and so when we drove into town, they lined the street with their signs about welcoming us and then response to the ryan budget. i have to tell you tears sprang to my eyes. it was such an amazing welcome. they went like two or three blocks. everybody there with the pictures, with their signs. it was just -- it was such a moving welcome. it was amazing. >> bill: let me ask you -- all this talk about the role of religion in politics. is this a proper role for religious leaders to get involved in a political fight over a budget? >> my gosh, yes. >> bill: why? >> because it is a moral document. the budget sets out where we are

really acting on behalf of our nation. it is the choices we make. and if we with make immoral choices, then of course people of faith need to speak out. our immoral choices are that we prefer the wealthy over those who are in need. that we are not having each other's backs. that we aren't supporting community. i've come to realize that it is an unpatriotic lie that we are individuals and we do it on our own. that's a lie. we do not do this on our own. those who have wealth depend on this whole network of support to create their wealth, depend on their workers, they depend on the infrastructure, they depend on government. they depend on the courts. they depend on this whole massive web of society. it is a lie they have done it on their own. it is a lie that we can do this on our own. we need each other. >> bill: so congressman paul ryan, the author of this budget is a catholic.

what did he do? fall asleep in sunday school? >> unfortunately, i know some of the sisters who taught him. i'm saying what happened? what happened? but what's interesting with congressman ryan is that he's now saying practically the same things about catholic social teaching that he said about ian rand last year or 18 months ago. i'm really wondering -- i wonder how much it is political opportunism and how much it is what he studied. my idea if i get a chance to visit him i'm going to take him a copy of pope benedict's -- the letter he wrote charity in truth all about what our society is supposed to be about and what kind of responsibility corporations and individuals have to each other and to the whole society and then i say -- i don't know if this will happen but i'll give him a pop quiz in a couple of weeks and see if he read it. >> bill: he might take him a copy of the new testament. >> there is a thought. >> bill: james is calling from cincinnati ohio. big ohio day here on the "full

court press." hi james. >> caller: how are you doing? >> bill: good. >> caller: i appreciate the sister and everything she's doing. >> thank you. >> caller: yes ma'am. i called to say this. that if for some reason, ever since president obama came into office, it seemed like to me that what he's trying to do for the people is almost exactly what jesus taught and so i consider jesus the first progressive or the first democrat. that's my comment. i listen for your response. >> bill: all right james appreciate hearing from you this morning. >> caller: yes sir. >> bill: thank you. there have been books written about -- i forget the name of the pastor now who wrote a book about jesus as the first liberal. >> yes. >> bill: but certainly, there is a clear message in the new testament about what should be the focus of christian social justice, right?

>> absolutely. it is not just new testament. look at the hebrew scriptures, look at the torah the buddhist scriptures, all faiths say that who we -- that the measure of who we are as a people is who do we care about? how are we inclusive? how do we care about the broader community? we are a bigger body than our individual selfs. >> bill: i admire you so much. thanks for being out there on the road on nuns on the bus. this is just the beginning. >> absolutely. more steps to come. >> bill: exactly. you'll come back and tell us all about those once you have everything in order. >> sounds good. love to do it. >> bill: consider this a stop on your bus tour any time. >> thank you so much bill. >> bill: great to see you. it is the network, i should mention that again. >> networklobby.org. that's it. that's how to find us. >> bill: she's a sister of social service. we'll be right back and tell you what the president's up to today

on his bus tour. >> announcer: on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." on my crunchy onion chicken because it's america's number one brand. just minutes to make, then bake!

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vinod khosla think? [ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: yes indeed. it is a big campaign, two-day bus swing for president obama. it starts today and the white house has put out its schedule today. and the campaign has put out its official schedule as well. president leaves the white house

this morning at 9:10 a.m. then the campaign picks up, he flies out to toledo, ohio. his first event campaign event is 11:40 this morning at the wolcott house museum in -- i guess that's maumee, ohio. followed by i guess -- back on the bus, he goes to an ice cream social in washington park in sandusky ohio. and then a 7:15 tonight he will deliver remarks at a grassroots event in james day park in parma, ohio. president obama on the bus and then tomorrow he will be off into the state of pennsylvania. ohio and pennsylvania. two key states. he will be talking about jobs and he will be talking about keeping jobs in america unlike mitt romney. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: good morning everybody. welcome to the "full court press" this thursday morning july 5. hope you had a great 4th. mitt romney spent the 4th of july flip-flopping all over the place! you know, first remember he said that the price you pay for not buying health ininsurance is actually a penalty not a tax. then yesterday he came out and said no, no, no, it's really a tax. but then he added when he did it in massachusetts though, it wasn't a tax. it was a penalty. so penalty tax penalty. the guy is all over the place. mitt, make up your mind!

what's going on? we'll talk about that and a whole lot more. we'll take your calls too. first, let's find out the latest. today's current news update, here she is, jacki schechner out in los angeles. good morning jacki. >> good morning, bill. good morning everybody. presidential candidates aren't raising as much money this year as they did four years ago according to new data out from the s.e.c. "washington post" reporting in the first quarter of this year, candidates raised and spent only half as much money as they did in 2008. super pacs are partly to blame for this. even with that money factored in fund-raising numbers don't compare. the sunlight foundation says the key difference is the quality of candidates. the democrats shattered fund-raising records during the obama clinton primaries back in 2008 and the g.o.p. brought out some well-funded candidates then as well. but at the same time, congressional races this year are building steam. house and senate candidates have $200 million more than they did in 2008. and this year's numbers look

much like they did in 2010 when an angry electorate put it back in the hands of republicans. >> one state where big much is making an impact seems to be in ohio where senator sherrod brown is up for re-election and running against republican state treasurer josh mendel who is a tea party favorite and has backing of outside groups. outside groups backing him have spent almost five times more than the outside groups that are backing brown. however brown is still ahead in the polls. in a little bit of lighter news entrepreneur.com has some quirky state laws that have just gone into effect we wanted to tell you about. july 1st happy hour in kansas. for 27 years, there was a ban on bars offering happy hour prices. now you can drink there during happy hour time and on long island, it is legal to tell a white lie online. i would recommend online dating somewhere else. in indiana, you can sell a motorcycle on sunday. as car dealerships however still

closed that day. we're back with more after the break. stay with us. politically direct means no b.s. just telling you what's going on in politics today. >>at the only on-line forum with a direct line to bill press. >>it's something i've been waiting for a long time. >>join the debate now. joining us. >> my pleasure. thanks for having me, man.

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>>joy behar is getting her own show coming to current tv this fall. [ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> announcer: broadcasting >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: all right. so i'm just confused. is it a penalty or is it a tax and does mitt romney know the difference? good morning everybody. it is thursday, july 5. hope you had a great 4th of july. ready to come back and tackle the big issues of the day right here on the "full court press" coming to you live from our nation's capital and booming out to you on your local progressive talk radio station. of course on current tv. thanks for joining us this morning. we'll be glad to take your calls, too at 1-866-55-press.

we can't navigate all of these issues on our own. of course, we do always look for some of the big foot journalists to come in and help us out. we got one this morning. >> size 13. >> bill: neil king from the national political reporter for the "wall street journal." good to see you. >> good to see you bill. >> bill: looking very sharp. >> casually elegant is what i'm pushing for. >> that's exactly what we said. there's the casually elegant neil king. >> bill: unlike the down-home sloppiness of the regular crew here. >> elegantly sloppy. >> peter ogborn and dan henning and cyprian bowlding. the big question everybody asks in power these days, do you -- the big question everybody is asking, do you have power. >> we're at the center of power. we live right here. our lines are buried. that's two things. our lines are buried.

nothing knocks down our power. >> bill: just the trees come down and knock down our houses. >> they smash cars but they don't deprive us of power. >> bill: good to see you yesterday on a sad note on the 4th -- tuesday right after our show, actually later in the day, we learned about the death of -- one of the greatest tv stars ever, andy griffith. mayberry the sheriff. he was -- he was the redneck everybody could love, right? >> yeah. he was fundamental part of ourchildhoods. i remember anyway. i didn't live in a town like this but i kind of wanted to. >> bill: it was at a time when there were so many bad things about the south we were hearing about and yet -- and here comes andy griffith. again, everybody could sort of identify with. very funny guy. started out doing stand-up comedy. i don't know whether you've heard. i heard for the first time this

morning, he was taken for the first time to see a football game. he didn't know what the hell was going on. >> anyhow, what i was telling was both wanted that thing and one bunch got it and it made the other bunch just as mad as they could be and friends i seen that evening the awfullest fight i have ever seen in my life. i did. they would run at one another and kick one another and pull another one down and grind their feet in one another and i don't know what all and just as fast as one would get hurt, they would tow him off. >> we don't have time to play the five and a half or six minute bit. go to youtube and look up andy griffith football story. it is so good. it is so good. >> bill: i can see where someone has no idea what it is all about. >> he calls the referees convicts. there is a cow pasture with lines all over it. it is great! it is great. >> that is great.

>> bill: but what i forgot is a couple of years ago much, much older andy griffith, this is 2009 actually, came out and did a spot supporting the affordable care act. >> he was a bit of a liberal. >> bill: i didn't think of him as that. here's what that spot was like. >> 1965. a lot of good things came out that year. like medicare. this year, like always, we'll have our guaranteed benefits. and with the new healthcare law more good things are coming. free checkups, lower prescription costs and better ways to protect us and medicare. see what else is new. i think you're going to like it. >> bill: i think the obama administration ought to be playing that ad or update it and get somebody like that, maybe they could get betty white to do

it. >> yeah, really. >> bill: we've got lots to cover with neil king here and congressman tim ryan from ohio will be joining us later because president obama starts his bus tour in ohio. we'll find out what's going on in a very key state. but first dan what have you got? >> well, bill, physicists and nerds alike across the world are excited after the folks at the big subatomic research facility in switzerland say they may have discovered one of the basic building blocks of the universe. scientists think they're close to proving that the higgs boson theory -- particle actually exists. it is the last undiscovered piece of the model that describes the fundamental makeup of the universe. experts say this model is what the theory of evolution is for biologists. >> bill: this is huge. >> i discovered my own years ago. >> bill: your god particle? >> my inner higgs boson.

>> bill: how many times is physics the lead story in "the new york times"? >> pretty great. >> bill: this changes everything. it's true. >> shucky ducky now herman cain is launching a tv network. the former pizza chain ceo and failed presidential candidate has started a web-based videoork called cain tv. "the huffington post" caught a glimpse of it and notes it has incredibly poor production value but clearly trying to follow in glenn beck's footsteps. >> bill: i saw a little bit of it, too. it reminded me of a channel you mind see in uzbekistan. >> both nathan's hot dog contests defending champions held on to their titles at coney island yesterday. joey chestnut tied his world record down 68 hot dogs in ten minutes for his sixth title. on the women's side, sonia thomas set a new world record eating 45 hot dogs and buns in ten minutes. last year, she ate 41.

>> mayor bloomberg was there to cheer them on, was he not? >> he was. >> bill: in fact, mayor bloomberg was at his -- bloomberg who of course is the good eating cop of new york, he was at his worst -- >> let me be perfectly frank this is one of my favorite traditions. i relish it so much. oh! >> wow. >> he worked on that a little too much i'm afraid. >> bill: neil king. the day before the 4th of july, maybe it was even monday, eric fehrnstrom of etch-a-sketch fame, senior romney adviser goes on national television, msnbc and said no, no, no, no, no. this fine or whatever you have to pay if you don't buy health insurance may have been found constitutional under the taxing

authority of congress but it's not a tax. it's a penalty. it's a penalty. he says for the romney campaign, this is what he's speaking for romney, one presumes. that went on for two days. yesterday, july 4th in a big hurry, romney comes out and talks to cbs and says no, no, no. it's not a penalty. it's a tax but back in massachusetts, when i did it, it was a penalty. it wasn't a tax. what's going on? >> the whole thing in the end is about what he did in massachusetts. so what eric fehrnstrom was saying is we disagree with the court's decision. we still view what obama did as a penalty. we think the same for what we did or what the governor did in massachusetts. it is a penalty. it is not a tax. that was the law of the land within the romney campaign. they knew that they were having a whole heap of trouble coming their way. very good "wall street journal" edit page piece in the paper today. and went up yesterday. they revised since his statement slamming him for this in a

pretty serious manner. but for now -- >> bill: this is the "wall street journal" editorially slamming romney for this -- for his confusion over this. >> he actually has a line. this latest mistake is of a piece that the campaign's staff that are slowly squandering an historic opportunity that is to be what would otherwise be seen as a weak president. goes on to say mr. romney promised republicans he was the best man to make the case -- mr. romney against president obama. so far mr. romney is letting them down. this goes to the whole issue of did that piece of his time as governor his whole romney care as he called it, make him too weak a candidate to go up against obama if in the end so much of the thing will be about healthcare. he himself romney says this campaign is now about healthcare. >> bill: doesn't this validate what rick santorum and newt gingrich were saying during the primary? >> yeah, exactly. >> bill: their point was he's

the last guy that we can expect to count on to make the case against obama care because of who he is. >> even his statement yesterday about this is a tax afterall wasn't that he sees it as a tax. it was the majority of the supreme court ruled that this is a tax. therefore, guys, it is a tax. and of course what did i in massachusetts, it remains a penalty. even though it actually imposed about $20 million in taxes or call them what you will on massachusetts residents. >> bill: in terms of squandering an opportunity obviously -- first of all would you agree that romney felt pressured to come out and say no it is a tax, it is a tax because the right-wingers in the party were unhappy with his calling it a penalty? >> absolutely. it wasn't just the right-wingers. it was his party. everyone in the house essentially, boehners, mcdonnell, the whole of the republican party.

here came a ruling that was not good for their cause. but it had that one thing which was like a gift that john roberts had wrapped and put in the middle of it, this thing is a tax and big one. you can run with that. so all of a sudden speaking of football, he takes that football away from that? >> bill: so i guess the opportunity i was referring i remember that george w. bush in 2000 when he was running made some statement -- i know i'm paraphrasing horribly here -- when he said these people in congress ought to realize you can't balance the budget on the backs of the poor or something. he differed from the republican leadership on congress. this was an opportunity for romney to say you know, let's just be honest with the american people right? what this is if you don't buy -- if you can afford insurance and you don't buy it, you're going to have to pay a penalty. there was an opportunity to show some independence. >> right except the problem was it was -- what would otherwise

have been a high-minded move. this is about semantics. what it is what it is. it was undermined by the fact it was a defensive thing. it was fighting a long-ago battle about what he did in massachusetts. i think a lot of people seem to be under the impression john roberts went in and changed the legislation somehow. it is all about him trying to find a way to prove it to uphold it through semantic, important constitutional semantic ruling that otherwise hasn't changed. >> bill: i guess one could make the argument that even though it's constitutional according to the court under the taxing authority that doesn't automatically make it a tax. in a sense, it is a penalty. the only people who pay it are the people who could afford it but just say no, i'm going to be a freeloader. in fact, peter the obama campaign, i should add put this

out yesterday. this is governor romney explaining his penalty or his approach to the mandate or penalty in massachusetts. >> we're going to insist that everybody be covered one way or the other and that those who don't comply have certain problems. they'll lose their personal tax exemption. we'll withhold the tax refund. we'll keep it in an account at the state level to pay the hospital if they go there for free care. the legislature has put in place consideration of not providing driver's licenses to people unless they can show their health insurance. if people go and get free care and don't pay for it, we go after them, garnish wages to make sure we get paid. people are either going to buy insurance or pay for their own care. they're not going to say i got care and you mr. taxpayer or you mrs. premium payer, you gotta pay for me. >> bill: that sort of explains what it is all about doesn't it? >> yeah but it also talks about

things way more intrusive. >> garnering wages and stuff. that's not part of this bill. >> obama care? no no, no. they would argue those are the enhanced powers of the state which the federal government doesn't have. that's true. still just on the principle of how far will government go in coercing you forcing you nudging you toward getting health insurance. >> bill: in the end is this whole debate, tax versus penalty an inside washington baseball debate? >> i think by in largely. the decision came out on thursday boom, this huge explosion within the beltway within the political world this is going to transform the 2012 presidential campaign. all of the polls that have come out since then have either showed a moderate move in favor of the healthcare law because it would make sense. the supreme court's now ruled in favor of it. or basically a hardening of positions overall and the idea that there's huge territory out there to exploit particularly from the right.

it is not clear that's the case yet. maybe things will change in the next few weeks but it is hard to see how things become more dynamic going forward than they were right after the decision was made. >> bill: neil king is here, national political reporter for "wall street journal," wsj.com is how you can follow -- and get this piece. the headline on the piece in the "wall street journal" is romney's tax confusion. we'll take your calls too at 1-866-55-press. continue our conversation with neil king when we come back. >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv, this is the "bill press show." all of the pieces? >>tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. >>you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. >>sharp tongue, quick whit and above all, politically direct. >>you just think there is no low they won't go to.

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>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: joe cirincione is our >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: how about it. 26 minutes after the hour. congressman tim ryan from ohio joining us. that's me and neil king in the next segment. neil king here from the "wall street journal" in stud grow with us. neil, while we're talking about semantics, penalty tax what's the difference between outsourcing and offshoring? >> outsourcing is you have a company that does a whole bunch of things, i don't need to have my people vacuum the floors, i'm going to outsource that to a place that cleans offices for a living. offshoring is you know, i don't need peter doing stuff here anymore in that booth, i could get his equivalent in a far away country that would be half the price. >> don't give him any ideas!

>> you would offshore the service to another country another place. >> bill: as i understand it, "the washington post" wrote a story saying that mitt romney at bain capital was very expert in outsourcing and the romney campaign complained and said no we were not outsourcing. we were offshoring. >> they had a big heap of complaints about that story that went on. it was like a legal brief. everybody got what they sent around. it was interesting document and they had a lot of things to complain about in part because of the things that the story omitted and didn't mention. but it is -- they were -- the companies they had invested in, a number were helping companies become more efficient by doing what they do well and taking other things they don't do so well and farming them elsewhere. a lot of the farming did go on overseas as well. >> bill: the obama campaign has a new ad that they just -- they're not letting up on this thing. they have come on themselves now with this over the weekend. here's a little bit of it.

>> what a president believes matters. mitt romney's companies were pioneers in outsourcing u.s. jobs to low-wage countries. he supports tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas. >> bill: but this does seem to be a line of attack having some impact. >> i think this bain thing could be his biggest -- the bain of his existence could in the end take down his campaign because it is going to go on for a long, long time. and the other side of it which we could talk about if you have the time or not is the whole where he himself has parked his money and his assets around the world, bermuda cayman islands switzerland, more those things are talked about and you hear cayman islands or bermuda the worse off romney is. >> bill: neil king in studio with us. president obama starts his bus tour today. first stop ohio. tim ryan will tell us what to expect when we come back.

>>we talk a lot about the influence of money in politics. it is the defining issue of this era. the candidate with the most money, does win. this is a national crisis.

>> announcer: this is the "full court press." the "bill press show." live on your radio and on current tv. >> bill: what do you say? what do you say? 33 minutes after the hour here on thursday, july 5. this is the "full court press" coming to you live across this great land of ours on current tv and on your local progressive talk radio station. neil king, national political reporter for the wall street judicial in studio with us as a "friend of bill" this hour. neil, always good to have you with us. i'll tell you, it seems ohio is the place to be on the bus these days. last week it was the nuns on the bus. rolling through ohio. today it is president obama

himself. leaves the white house about a half hour from now flying out to andrews then from andrews to toledo, ohio where he will land and be met by, among others, congressman tim ryan representing ohio's 17th congressional district. but first, he says hello to us this morning. hey, congressman, good to have you with us. >> always a pleasure. you gotta follow the nuns, bill. you'll never go wrong. >> bill: you know sister simone campbell was in the studio with us in the last half hour. she said the biggest welcome they had on the whole trip was in youngstown, ohio, congressman. >> i believe it! i believe it. they're the foot soldiers. they're in the foxhole doing the work and i think that's why they have the credibility that they have. >> bill: what kind of a reception awaits president obama in the important state of ohio today? >> well i think it will be strong. he will be in the northern tier of the state. it has been greatly helped by his decisions with the auto industry in particular, one of every eight jobs.

you go from toledo to cleveland to parma to youngstown, you know, whether you're a supplier for the chevy cruze or doing stuff with jeep, it is all over the place in northern ohio. it is primarily auto and people up here recognize that you know, if obama didn't have the courage to make the decision to save the auto industry, quite frankly when it wasn't politically popular, we would be in much worse shape here in northern ohio in particular. >> bill: in fact, everybody understands the importance of ohio. governor romney was through there just about two weeks ago. what is the political scene on the ground in ohio? i mean ohio is a must-win state. period. correct? >> for romney, way more so than for obama. it is a very important state. >> bill: congressman? >> no doubt about it. on the ground, i think romney

really has himself in the trick bag. we had a huge referendum for collective bargaining in ohio. it was similar to wisconsin but it had included in it, the police and fire. and romney came to ohio and basically supported this. went to the call center where they were making calls to knock down the referendum, to overturn it and you know, that basically passed with like 62% of the vote. and so these police and fire and teachers and public employees remember that and like i said, it wasn't just like wisconsin and this isn't trying to take a governor out. he was here campaigning for that and i think there is a lot of independent voters, a lot of republicans who are police and fire who are going to remember that because the same groups are coming in now that came in then. lynn cheney, karl rove, these front groups, now they're back in ohio doing the same thing to try to beat up obama and these

guys remember who was with them last year. so that's in addition to obama with the auto industry and putting tariffs on chinese products and those kind of things. in addition to that, there's something very personal here on the ground and that's romney's supported senate bill five which would have gotten into these guys pockets. >> congressman, some attention has been paid to the fact that -- this is neil king by the way of the "wall street journal," that he will be touring through counties that are friendly terror territory counties he won in '08 the same when he goes into pittsburgh. what do you think of that that he's preaching to the choir. do you think he should get into other parts of ohio in time? that maybe aren't so friendly? >> well you know, something tells me he'll be back in ohio again. >> bill: you got that right. let me just say congressman we have a line at the white house those of us in the white house press corps, whenever we get down there and there's no event on the president's schedule, the line at the white house is he's either going to iraq or ohio.

[ laughter ] >> exactly! exactly. he'll be back and i think what this is really, i think reminding people you know about manufacturing and the things he has done and getting to our base. and i think that's really important now because really one of the reasons why we lost a lot of our statewide races in 2010 was we did not get our base out. so i think it is smart for the obama team to say hey let's get in at toledo and cleveland. little places like parma. let's get into youngstown, ohio and get our base motivated early. get our volunteer base up as we begin knocking on doors and doing the legwork that needs to get done. i think it is really smart. he'll come back and hit the suburbs. actually in youngstown, he's hitting a suburb of youngstown. it will be at poland which is a swing area. so i guess in some sense he's already doing that. he'll be in the youngstown media

market. he will be back here. he's been here a bunch. michelle has been here. i think they'll be back a bunch in the next few months. >> bill: so it is jobs, jobs, jobs, is that the way you see it, congressman? >> i think it is who is on your side. clearly, obama has been able to negotiate the country through really tumultuous times. i mean you know, the guy killed bin laden. we were bleeding 700,000 jobs a month. now we've had 20 plus months of growth. everyone in the country and in ohio have healthcare now. i've been hearing from people this week that i've been home about personal stories with kids with pre-existing conditions. it means something to those people. i think it is who's on your side. they look at romney and i think that's what they see with the bain capital ads. one is he was a pioneer for outsourcing and that has damaged many communities in ohio. and then the fact he hasn't really taken a stand.

i mean obama geez, oh, man you may not agree with everything he's done but you know where the guy stands! he's trying to do the right thing. romney has been all over the board! you look at his career in the past 10 or 15 years, it is difficult to find out what he stands for what his core is. people in ohio are down to earth. i think that's really what -- of course it is jobs. of course it is the economy. but people want to know who's on their team. they know obama's on their team. >> bill: you know -- neil? >> would you support obama continuing to go after this whole bain capital outsourcing theme? is that the right thing he should keep hitting through the summer? >> yeah, no doubt about it. i know there's some people disgruntled about it. i think it is an effective ad here in ohio. effective argument to make. again you know, because here's obama going out of his way politically to save the auto industry because it's

manufacturing. he put tariffs on chinese oil tubing that came in that was getting dumped into ohio. that led to a steel mill investing $650 million into ohio into youngstown. thousand trade jobs out there. 300 permanent jobs out there. so i think it is really important for obama to say hey listen, i've taken on china hard. put tariffs on. i saved the auto industry. this guy was out making it a point to outsource so he could benefit personally and make a lot of money off it. i think that's a really good argument to make in ohio. >> bill: i think there will be another contrast today neil. you've been on the road with romney. i haven't. i've been on the road with president obama. i think we're going see a contrast in their campaigning styles too. when i've been with obama in front of crowds as he's going to have at these kind of events today, he thrives on those crowds right? he gets -- he draws his energy

from those crowds. romney still seems uncomfortable. >> he does. the swing he made through his midwestern swing, he was in wisconsin and in iowa and michigan and ohio as well, was different. it was retail. it had him being more relaxed. he still has yet to become and maybe he won't a legitimately big crowd drawer. whether he could go all the way and maybe win in november without having done something that really psyches up a lot of people and so far that's not been his style. >> bill: with obama again he just comes alive. i went with him in his first -- to your state congressman columbus, ohio where he kicked off his campaign and went down to richmond. i was on that trip with him. the bigger the crowd the better he is. i think you're going to see that today, congressman. >> yeah, he's really starting to get his mojo back. i think he's excited again for

the campaign and you know, i think once he recognized that congress was really just going to obstruct -- there wasn't a whole lot he could do. he started getting into the executive orders and things he did with immigration and those kinds of things, i think he really started to get his legs under him again. i think you see that on the campaign trail. i think that's what the american people want. that's what this whole betting on america is about. betting on our future. betting on places like ohio. people want to know what the future looks like. there's so much uncertainty out there. obama's being pretty clear about it. we're going to invest in education. we're going to invest in the manufacturing. we're going to keep taxes low for the middle class and we're going to make sure you can afford to send your kid to school. they'll try to take care of the debt in a very responsible way but still make the investments. and i think that's the message for the american people. what's the future look like and who's going to help us get there? even though there will be all kinds of uncertainty.

i think with romney, people are really feeling -- they don't know where he stands, you know. even if he was a rock solid conservative for 20, 30 years more people would be comfortable with that as opposed to he was over here in massachusetts. now he's here and he said this in the primary. now he's trying to wiggle out of it. etch-a-sketch and all of that. there's too much uncertainty to elect a leader that is uncertain. >> bill: congressman, you've got a big day ahead of you. thanks for starting it off with us today. enjoy it. make the most of it. we will be checking in with you again soon. thanks congressman. >> take care bill. >> bill: good to talk to you. i have to say he really is -- he represents that area and -- in more ways than one right? i love it. what did he say? geez oh golly. i haven't heard that phrase. the theme is an interesting one. betting on america. >> he had his talking points down and i'm sure some of them

were passed on from the white house. it is fascinating the things he was hitting on. is he in our corner? people don't know where he stands. obama's out there to protect the middle class. it was all very simple themes but pretty rich ones you're going to hear a lot. >> bill: particularly for this area. right on the money on jobs. congressman tim ryan. neil king is in studio with us. your calls welcome at 1-866-55-press. we'll be right back. >> announcer: on your radio on tv the "bill press show" new on current tv. oh, no. if al gore's watching today...

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if you missed joy behar one week only... >>hey, time flies when you're having fun. >>don't worry because she'll be back. >>where are the lefties besides on current tv? >>joy behar is getting her own show coming to current tv this fall. [ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> announcer: on your radio on

tv the "bill press show." new on current tv. >> bill: 12 minutes now before the top of the hour. hey, you're missing out on a lot of fun on the show if you're not in the chat room. you could multitask. i know you can do it. so you can listen, you can watch on current tv, you can be in the chat room at the same time talking with your fellow "full court pressers" around the country. did we just coin a phrase? >> i like that. "full court pressers". >> bill: join the chat room. join the crowd. join the fun. neil king has joined the fun in studio this morning. national political reporter with the "wall street journal." neil, we know romney is a wealthy man. there is a story out today in news day that suggests that romney may be even wealthier than we thought. because one of his holdings is a company called -- we think we're

both pronouncing sankaty investors limited based in bermuda. this is some giant hedge fund that romney owns? >> there have been a series -- this is an associated press story that's run all over the country. there was a story out on tuesday that "vanity fair" wrote that was a similar long, more feature look at the same phenomena. there's not a lot we know per se about this fund other than it was created in the '90s, if i remember it right it is sort of accountants and people -- >> bill: for nearly 15 years he's owned this company. >> what makes it extraordinary. it has been hovering out speaking of higgs boson like this huge but much bigger particle we're not sure what it is but it spins off these dividends essentially carried interest payments into his account which i think now is held actually by his wife. and it is essentially kind of an

on-going not really profit sharing from bain capital but something to reward people who were once at bain capital as far as we understand it. what's interesting we don't know they declare on his financials that have been out there so far, how much he's earned from this fund. but what isn't known is what is it in total in terms of its value and as it says in the story, it is a fascinating thing because it says that it has no assets. >> bill: no assets but provides huge dividends. >> yeah. so one of the things the story brings out is it possible the campaign says he's worth about $250 million. is it possible he's actually worth considerably more but that it is impossible to value because there's this thing out there and maybe others like it that aren't really quantifiable but over time, just give -- >> bill: but for years i believe, quick reading of the story, for years this wasn't even listed among the things

that he owned. but now it has been listed. but we still know very little about it. what's ironic is sankaty is the name of an historic lighthouse on the massachusetts coast but it doesn't shed much light -- the lighthouse fund has been kept in the dark. >> right. this came out yesterday. the obama campaign has jumped all over it. you can be sure that alongside the whole bain offshoring, outsourcing theme, this is going to be a huge theme going through the rest of the summer. and could also be damaging to the romney campaign. it is a hard thing to defend against without using the words bermuda, without using the words cayman islands which don't really quite resonate with most voters. so the obama campaign today came out with a web video do you have an offshore bank account? it is asking. so you can be sure they'll hammer on that. normal folks don't have offshore bank accounts. it is going to be interesting to see how the romney campaign deals with it. it gets into the tricky area of

he's got a blind trust it is legal. there are privacy issues. how much can his campaign elaborate. that's what they're for anyway. >> bill: if nothing else, this certainly -- and again we're just seeing the tip of the iceberg here that this does really reinforce the idea of romney as different than all of the rest of us because he's not just wealthy. it is hard to relate to. a bermuda hedge fund. hedge fund located in bermuda. >> there are many ways which romney is a truly exotic candidate in the way obama was an exotic candidate in 2008 but obama was aware of what made him exotic and worked with it and made people more familiar with what he was about. i'm not sure romney is fully aware of how exotic these things look to most people. in part because it is part of his world and he's proud of what he's done understandably. so i'm not sure they've fully

dealt yet with what the ramifications of some of the things might be. >> bill: neil king, thanks for coming in. come back again soon. for the record, i do not have an offshore bank account. >> that we know of. nor do i. >> bill: i'll be back with a quick parting shot. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." septic disasters are disgusting and costly, but avoidable. the rid-x

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i.q. will go way up. >>tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. [ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> >> announcer: the parting shot with bill press. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: all right. on this thursday, july 5, my parting shot for today, what a joy today to welcome back to d.c. and back to our studio sister simone campbell, head of the now famous nuns on the bus. sister campbell's one the leaders of american nuns who

were recently chastised by the vatican for spending too much time talking about poverty and social justice and too little time talking about what the bishops think they ought to be talking about namely same-sex marriage and abortion. the vatican has launched a full-scale investigation of those nuns but rather than fold their tents americans' nuns are fighting back. they went off on a bus tour reminding the vatican and us that helping the poor and the dispossessed is not some socialist scheme. it is what jesus spent his time doing and what he expects his followers to do. no doubt about it. when it comes to the essence of christianity and catholicism the nuns are right and the bishops are dead wrong! god bless american nuns. folks, have a great thursday. come back and see us tomorrow. vatican is out

to shout out. ryan grimm from "huffington post" will be here as well. comedian liz winstead has a new book out. she'll be joining us on thursday morning and current tv's joy behar next monday. so have a great day! come back and see us tomorrow. break the ice with breath-freshening cooling crystals. ice breakers.